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September 6,2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Mark Gracyk and  Dan McMillan both say they’re running for the Helix Water District Board to stop rate hikes –and roll them back if possible.  Both are running against incumbents (Chuck  Muse and John Linden) who have repeatedly voted for rate hikes. Hear our full interview, aired on KNSJ radio,  by clicking the orange link above, and scroll down for highlights. Neither Muse nor  Linden responded to our invitation to be interviewed, nor did  three other challengers (Louis Tejeda, Aaron Zajac and Erik  Collins).

The water district says it’s time to seek proposals to conduct a water rate study since the last one was in 2011.

At the water board’s Aug. 9 meeting David Barnum, the district’s general manager, said the agency did not raise water rates this year in anticipation of an updated rate study. The study would include a district water model incorporating changes in water operations and, using that model, updating the water facilities plan. After identifying necessary projects in the facilities plan a consultant would develop an updated water rate study, according to district staff.

Locked in a multi-year drought, California’s urban water suppliers have, for the most part, happily enforced rules that prohibit specific wasteful water practices, such as hosing down driveways and over-watering lawns.

But far fewer agencies have been willing to go beyond state mandates and penalize customers simply for using profligate volumes of water. The names of those heavy users have been mostly kept secret under California public records law. That’s about to change.